RodleyRam

26 minutes ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

Now this is an interesting point worth debating…. I’ve always thought of humble pie as being savoury rather than sweet…am I weird? Or are you weird for wanting ice cream with savoury pie? 

Who's saying it's savoury! Ice cream with everything yo! That's my manifesto...

30 pages in...

Meh

It's a no from me.

High wages, end of career, not a team player, scored goals last decade. I would sooner gamble on a raw talent.

If we end up signing him I'll be very disappointed. If he scores the goals to win us the league, I'll have ice cream with my humble pie.

Interesting to read comments that connect Bradley as a player to Bradley the coach. If history tells us anything the two things have very little connection.

Didn't like him as a player but that's actually pretty irrelevant. If he's taking it seriously and the judgement is that he has talent and a coach, he has my backing. Welcome back to Rams United.

We're should be aiming for autos no doubt about that. But it's a tough old league, and there's still time for others to strengthen. Don't be under any illusions as to what it takes to get out of this league.

We have stable foundations and a real identity building across the squad. The missing elements are creativity, flair and match winners who pick up points out of nothing. 

These are harder to come by but it's clear that PW knows where the gaps still are and we now have the kind of squad in place that will be a pull to the undecideds...

Still a way to go but to be in this position at this point is a real boost.

Just Kos-ip until it becomes a more conCrete rumour

I think we can expect a more direct, more frantic, higher no. of crosses next season, in addition to more focus on set pieces. All of this plays to his strengths, so you'd expect him to be 15+ regardless of whether he is the no.1 striker.

I don't think it'll be a season for the total football purists but I do think we'll see more chances created and more goals scored.

I bet we didn't get him because he saw that Warne interview about Jason Knight and he thought 'i can never sign for someone with such rudimentary negotiation skills'

Just got round to watching his interview. Impressive insight and very well put across. Hope he can stay fit as that kind of leadership is an essential part of any promotion winning side, which we really lacked last year when the chips were down. 

If we had him in the side last year, I feel we would have made the playoffs comfortably.

Very promising signing.

I think we've proven over the years that even players with history can go on to have a good relationship with fans when they come here. Way too much is made of that kind of thing. 

As a footballing decision... For me he's way past his best and I highly doubt he would tick many of the Paul Warne boxes, even in his prime. Without directing this thread down a wardrobe sized rabbit hole, why would a 37 year old Billy Sharp be any more acceptable than a 34 year old Chris Martin? Both with their best years behind them, we can do better.

I just don't see it as anything other than pure journalistic speculation, and heaven knows we have more than enough of that going on in the world right now!

Theoretically we have the makings of an established PL side but it's a long journey from here.

I loved watching that late 90s side when European football was a genuine possibility for a couple of seasons. I'll be sad if that's the best I ever see as a Ram but I guess count myself fortunate that I have seen my club compete at that level. Many fans will never get that for their clubs.

On 01/07/2023 at 23:47, Ramslad1992 said:

Personally my favourite game, the devastation of Wednesday scoring a 3rd in the 89 minute to go 3-1 up for us to somehow get a point. 
 

7 year old ramslad1992 was on top of the world that day! 🐏

Yeah that was some fightback. It's a shame we couldn't build on that team as there was some exceptional talent in there. I still mourn the loss of Branko Strupar.

20 hours ago, Jimbo Ram said:

He never answers a question does he, just general vagueness 🙄

Are you suggesting that Nixon is a hack and has no better insight into the transfer machinations of DCFC than Big Trav... I'm shocked and alarmed that anyone could come to such a conclusion

Nelson is the obvious choice at this point. Bird probably keeps Vice.

1 hour ago, DiggerB said:

Isn’t that some of the issue? He did pretty well at RWB last year, but didn’t seem particularly enamoured with the thought of being played there long-term when interviewed.

Am I wrong in thinking that he's been deployed there by Ireland too? I could easily be. 

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see him smash it at centre-mid - I guess I'm just greedily wanting more end product from him there.

If you want the true Derby experience, I suggest you watch both the highs and the lows. It'll help you to understand the true essence of being a Ram...

These are all games we'd love to forget but part of what makes us who we are. These are mainly from the 90s, which are my formative memories and really stick out.

1993/94 Derby 1 - Leicester 2 (play off final misery)

1997/98 Derby 0 - Leicester 4 (we were 4 down inside 15 minutes and made Leicester look like Barcelona - I remember people leaving the ground after the 3rd goal went in after about 10 minutes!)

2013/14 Derby 0 - QPR 1 (dominated before Keogh let's Zamora steal it - oh how life would be different)

When I was a kid my dad had a 'Match of the 70s' VHS which included highlights from

1972/3 Derby 5 - 0 Arsenal (Alan Hinton at his pin point best)

1972/3 Derby 3 - 0 Benfica (Kevin Hector left foot volley & Archie Gemmill covering every blade of grass)

1972/3 Spurs 3 - 5 Derby (FA Cup Roger Davies leading the comeback)

1975/76 Derby 4 - 1 Real Madrid (Charlie George making them look like school boys)

Watch all that and then if you want to get depressed watch anything from 1977-79 under Tommy Doherty and understand why most Derby fans of a certain age think of him like Voldemort.

I'm sure there are a whole load of other highs and lows worth watching in full.

There are some horrific and then great moments from the 80s when we were where we are now in Div 3 and 'rose again' under Arthur Cox, others will make some suggestions I'm sure.

2013/14 Derby 5 - 0 Forest (epic)

In fact lots of that season is well with a second watch and I'm sure some people would enjoy reliving certain moments. It was a seminal season to help understand where we are today. Many calls for greater ambition leading to Clough jnr departing and then an uncontrollable lust for the Premier League which eventually nearly killed the club (massive simplification of the period!)

2018/19 Derby Vs Leeds both play off legs

That should keep you going for a bit and give you some stuff to get people's input into.

10 minutes ago, sage said:

Having a fit Bird could potentially have made that a different record.

He does the work that is unseen by many 

Agree with this. Bird was an essential part of our good run, not a coincidence that we dropped off when he was injured (not the only factor). I don't think he/we have quite worked out what kind of midfielder he is and I'm not sure we have the right balance in the middle of the park. 

I hope we keep Knight and figure out how to get the best out of him. Could be his future lies at RWB.

I doubt we'll replace him with one player.

The simple answer is to spread the goals around much more, with others weighing in with more. I'm sure we will sign at least one striker and at least one no.10, who should be looking at 10-15. Collins should be good for 15. You'd hope Sibley, NML, Hourihane of the existing squad could all get double figures, Knight too if he stays. Bird getting 5+, Cashin could easily get 5+ if he can capitalise on good positions from set pieces.

I don't think the blueprint for success in this league is having one 25 goal striker. We created a lot of chances last season but we're profligate. Everyone needs to contribute and with the right tactics, we should be seeing goals from all over the squad.

2 hours ago, Millenniumram said:

Perhaps, but I don’t really see why. I’m not saying we will get promoted, I’m just saying we should. That’s not cockiness, it’s just facts. I doubt any rival fan will argue that we’re not favourites. We absolutely could fail, and if we do that’s on us, and extremely embarrassing.

As of right now, I just don't think anyone can put us as favourites. There are sides who have been together longer and will be very competitive, who I would have ahead of us currently, Barnsley, Bolton, Peterborough, Portsmouth.

We've lost a lot of players who made a big difference last season and could well lose more. We have no goals, a shortage of CB and no real grit in the middle of the park. It's a really obvious thing to say... we might be the 'biggest' club in the league but we will only be able to live up to that billing if we get a promotion winning squad together.

Before anyone jumps down my throat, I'm not being negative, I just think billing us as certs to win the league at this point is premature. We should be able to get top six but anyone putting us ahead of the other bigger sides at this point is way ahead of themselves and boarding on blind arrogance.

4 minutes ago, oodledoodle said:

Yeah but 3 teams that finished above us aren't in this league any more, so technically we finished 4th URAMS

So we should just start the season with the playoffs and sack off everything else. It's tempting. Continue that theme for a few years and we'll be back in the Premier League in no time

I guess now that Coleen Rooney is no longer our manager it means Rebekah Vardy can't leak our transfer activity to the Sun. 

That was what that whole court case was about right?

I would LIKE autos and a very strong season without having to mess about with the play off lottery.

However, anyone setting a minimum expectation of promotion before the transfer business had been done is risking serious disappointment. At this stage our squad is significantly weaker than the one that finished 7th, but I'm hopeful we will recruit to give us a 'guarantee' of top 6 and I think we ought to be able to attract sufficient quality and maximise the existing talent to get us into the playoffs.

If our recruitment is strong then, with our resources and a technically weaker league, we really should be aiming for top 2. We need a lot more goals to achieve that.

KNOBY DA FAAT 

Got a new grime album out, supposed to be off the chain. Fam.

Assuming that we weren't actually in for him, it gives an indication that the transfer strategy this year will be geared towards lower risk, solid consistent performers who fit the desired tick boxes on work ethic etc. The plan will be to get out of the League, so I reckon PW will go to his comfort zone and try to get solid and proven in L1 (but potentially uninspiring) 

I know little about this player but general consensus is that he is in the more unproven at this level, potential luxury kind of bracket. One could argue that the financial risk in his case would be low so theoretically, low risk, high reward but I think it's an interesting indication of the strategy if we didn't make an offer at all.

The silence is a tad deafening at the moment but I'm sure we'll have a better sense of the direction over the next few weeks. I want to be excited...

I confess I haven't read other comments but in response to the OP...

Rosenior was clearly able to entice people with the 'project' and the enormous potential at the club. I don't think finishing 7th changes that too much. I still expect us to attract young talent, players coming into their prime and quality coming towards the end of their careers.

The thing I think PW really needs to get right is the blend between genuine, quality match-winning talent, and the athleticism, die for the cause stuff that served him well at Rotherham. We are a different proposition and I am still slightly concerned that players with technical quality may be put off by his demands for running about a lot.

It's early days.